pork chop Posted March 6, 2020 Report Share Posted March 6, 2020 Anyone know much about the above ,I saw something on Facebook which I thought looked good n tbh I knew I could make n sell them cheaper Never thought of the possibility it was a registered design,so got a threatening email from the design owner blah blah blah so my question is how far do you have to alter the design to make it different enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted March 6, 2020 Report Share Posted March 6, 2020 Think the answer may be in the link you provided. ‘.......identical or SIMILAR to the owners’ . So if your product isn't even recognisable as ‘similar’ you should be good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pork chop Posted March 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2020 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Scully said: Think the answer may be in the link you provided. ‘.......identical or SIMILAR to the owners’ . So if your product isn't even recognisable as ‘similar’ you should be good to go. Yeh I get that ,but there’s only so many way to do things this product only really has one way but if I add more symmetrical shapes to it (theirs has one I’m thinking two or three )would that be classed as different enough,I’d just leave it tbh but their email got my back up .They only needed to say it was their design n show me the proof n that would have been that Edited March 6, 2020 by pork chop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grrclark Posted March 6, 2020 Report Share Posted March 6, 2020 You could spend a fortune on trying to get a single answer to this question and never get there. Likewise the person giving you grief about their ‘registered design’ could spend a fortune trying to pursue you via legal means and get nowhere. What is it you are making? Context is everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted March 6, 2020 Report Share Posted March 6, 2020 I’m only basing this on my experience of copyright as it relates to art, but if you can’t produce anything the copyright owner can’t recognise as their design, then it’s a non starter I would say. If you produced something which functioned the same, but was unrecognisable as being the same, then you’d possibly be ok. No one can stop you from producing something which serves the same purpose as the original, as long as it doesn’t copy ‘ similar ‘ to the original. I can’t stop anyone from painting the same building, tree or scene as me; I can’t even stop anyone from using my painting as a base for their own, but if it looks like mine, and they try to sell it as their own, then they’re in breach of copyright. It’s hugely complicated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pork chop Posted March 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2020 2 minutes ago, Scully said: I’m only basing this on my experience of copyright as it relates to art, but if you can’t produce anything the copyright owner can’t recognise as their design, then it’s a non starter I would say. If you produced something which functioned the same, but was unrecognisable as being the same, then you’d possibly be ok. No one can stop you from producing something which serves the same purpose as the original, as long as it doesn’t copy ‘ similar ‘ to the original. I can’t stop anyone from painting the same building, tree or scene as me; I can’t even stop anyone from using my painting as a base for their own, but if it looks like mine, and they try to sell it as their own, then they’re in breach of copyright. It’s hugely complicated. Yeh sounds like a minefield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushkin Posted March 7, 2020 Report Share Posted March 7, 2020 I seem to recall that you can apply for something that is already copyright but you aim to do it as a variation off - and this is the basis of your application for another copyright in your name. Not sure if you have to give acknowledgement in your copyright to the original. Minefield as stated previously and can cost much. There is government advice available on line but can be very lengthy. Good luck😎 Pushkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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